Glitchy pop suggestions for a tween?

June 5, 2019 3:26 PM

DOT Jr. is starting to get into music. His current favorites are Billie Eilish and Superorganism. What else might he like? We are looking for catchy, glitchy recent (within the last 5 years) stuff within PG-13 limits. The more interesting the performer's persona, the better.

Additional notes:

• Not interested in deep cuts from my fellow olds, no matter how cool or parallel to his other likes they may be. I can handle that on my own. I heart you all, but he is looking for guidance on how to get current, not a stack of stuff ten or more years old that might could slot into the same playlist.
• I understand that as he gets into trendier pop music, we are going to get into lyrical content that is... less fun for a parent. I am okay with explaining what Billie Eilish means when she jokes about seducing dads. I'm not ready to hear him sing along to MGMT saying they want to shoot heroin and fuck the stars. Let's shoot for PG-13.
• Huge mega extra points for music made by very young people. Eilish and Orono being teens definitely adds to their appeal.
• He is way, way more impressed with self-made iconoclast oddballs than artists who put off a cool/alpha/popular kid vibe.
• DOT Jr's sexuality is TBD, but by his own preference that is a conversation for much later. He is somewhere between disinterested and actively repelled by music that is heavily sexual and tends to prefer conceptual stuff to relationship/love stuff.

FWIW, I am an indie music nerd, but I mean more guitar/guitar/bass/drums than DOT, Jr. who likes jittery beats, distorted vocals, and squirrelly sounding keyboards.

posted by DirtyOldTown to Media & Arts (22 answers total)

JPEGMAFIA, probably doesn't qualify as PG-13, otherwise sounds right up his alley.
posted by so fucking future at 3:43 PM on June 5, 2019

SOPHIE is the queen of glitch pop and is pretty self-made with essentially nonsense lyrics.

Same deal with the label PC Music--way out there pop with mostly nonsense lyrics. They've both been around a handful of years now, but they're a pretty direct influence on billie eilish, et al.

edited to add 2 on the mellower side of things:
Snail's House
and
in love with a ghost
posted by sleeping bear at 4:36 PM on June 5, 2019 [4 favorites]

Icona Pop, e.g. Emergency
posted by Little Dawn at 4:47 PM on June 5, 2019

Catchy + Glitchy = Purity Ring
posted by sacrifix at 4:49 PM on June 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

Herve Pagez, Diplo - Spicy ft. Charli XCX
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:50 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Kero Kero Bonito: like Superorganism but a bit more J pop/Cibo Matto influence.

Intro Bonito is a place to start; fun kids having glitchy global synth pop fun.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:42 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Anything by Shawn Wasabi, I like Burnt Rice, Marble Soda is another hit of his. He designed his own midi controller out of arcade buttons, and sometimes sells them under the name Midi Fighter, which is pretty cool to this old, but he’s rather young.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:45 PM on June 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

More hip-hop, mostly, and I can't immediately recall the lyrical content on a parental advisory scale, but maybe Brockhampton.
posted by papayaninja at 5:53 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

In lieu of editing, let me just say... Probably more like a hard R on the Brockhampton front. Sorry.
posted by papayaninja at 5:56 PM on June 5, 2019

Micachu & the Shapes tick all your boxes, I think.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:12 PM on June 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

To me “Glitchy” says Photay
posted by supercres at 6:18 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do you know Every Noise At Once? Search Eilish & Superorganism to see what pops up. You can also search by genre.
posted by aw jeez at 6:40 PM on June 5, 2019

Ooh! dark cat?
posted by aw jeez at 6:49 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Grimes?
posted by STFUDonnie at 7:17 PM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

King Princess?
posted by shadygrove at 8:54 PM on June 5, 2019

It's six years old already, but I will make a case for the entire album Pure Heroine by Lorde. She was 16 when the album was released. The lyrics talk about teenage concerns like going on dates, driving cars, going to parties, and being popular, but Ella seems like a very old soul.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:29 PM on June 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

Young performer, intriguing persona? Try Poppy. (warning: Youtube rabbit hole - in addition to music, there are skits)
posted by Gordafarin at 2:33 AM on June 6, 2019

This is a job for Oliver Tree.
posted by Morpeth at 4:37 AM on June 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Seems like Hundred Waters could be a decent fit here. A few examples:
Out Alee
Firelight
Murmurs
posted by saladin at 6:19 AM on June 6, 2019

Oh nuts, I should have added one more example of Hundred Waters: Thistle. It's seven years old at this point but seems like it could be pretty solid.
posted by saladin at 6:23 AM on June 6, 2019

I am totally going to check out almost all of the above, but one that I found while listening to KEXP's Song of the Day podcast was Chong the Nomad. Also, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, is not exactly bleeding edge, but their latest stuff defies categorization and sticks in your head. In a good way.
posted by cross_impact at 11:45 AM on June 6, 2019

I'm back! What about some Farao?
posted by saladin at 8:02 AM on August 21, 2019